QMines has moved its Mt Chalmers copper-gold project into a Definitive Feasibility Study after securing a $15 million strategic package from QIC. The development push comes alongside a larger annual loss, $9.21 million in operating cash outflow and continued reliance on future funding.
- $15 million QIC package split between equity and a 2% royalty
- Mt Chalmers DFS based on a phased 1Mtpa development
- $4.43 million FY2026 net loss and $9.21 million operating cash outflow
- $14.25 million cash balance at 30 June 2026
- Mount Mackenzie gold resource increased to 170,000 ounces
QIC Funding Advances Mt Chalmers Development
QMines Limited (ASX:QML) has put a $15 million Queensland Investment Corporation funding package behind its push to restart the Mt Chalmers copper-gold mine, turning the Central Queensland project into the clear centre of its development strategy.
The package comprises a $5 million equity investment and $10 million in exchange for a 2% net smelter return royalty over the Mt Chalmers project. The royalty has been recorded as a non-current financial liability, with its carrying value dependent on assumptions including commodity prices, production timing and the discount rate. The arrangement gives QMines development capital without making the entire package a conventional equity raise, but it also creates a future claim on project revenue.
A Smaller First Step for the Copper-Gold Hub
During FY2026, QMines adopted a phased, expandable 1 million-tonne-per-year development as the base case for its Definitive Feasibility Study. The company says the approach is intended to prioritise the fastest path to first production and cash flow while reducing technical, permitting and delivery complexity.
The April 2024 pre-feasibility study outlined a 9.6 million-tonne Proved and Probable Ore Reserve, a pre-tax NPV at an 8% discount rate of $373 million and a 54% internal rate of return over an initial 10.4-year mine life. Those figures belong to the earlier study, not the DFS, and the company has not yet reported a replacement set of feasibility economics. QMines says copper, gold and silver prices, along with treatment charges, have moved in its favour since the PFS assumptions were set, although that comparison does not by itself establish the outcome of the DFS.
Drilling Adds High-Grade Detail Around Mt Chalmers
Work supporting the DFS included geotechnical drilling, groundwater monitoring and studies covering mine planning, metallurgy, waste management, logistics, environmental approvals and cultural heritage. After year end, QMines began its largest Mt Chalmers drilling campaign, with more than 10,000 metres planned across five programs.
Results reported after 30 June included 35 metres at 2.88% copper, 0.75 grams per tonne gold and 3.3 grams per tonne silver from 107 metres in hole 26MCRD002. Another hole returned 32 metres at 1.99% copper, 0.39 grams per tonne gold and 2.6 grams per tonne silver, while a shallow polymetallic interval returned 8 metres at 5.14 grams per tonne gold, 132 grams per tonne silver and 4.68% zinc. The mineralisation remains open in the positions tested, but drilling results still need to be incorporated into resource, mine planning and metallurgical work before their development significance can be assessed.
Resource Growth Broadens the Regional Portfolio
QMines also completed a 73-hole, 9,798-metre maiden drilling program at Mount Mackenzie. The subsequent resource update lifted the project to 5.22 million tonnes at 1.01 grams per tonne gold and 6.7 grams per tonne silver, containing 170,000 ounces of gold and 1.12 million ounces of silver. About 70% of the contained gold is now classified as Indicated, while further growth areas remain at South West Slopes and along the North Knoll extensions.
At Develin Creek, the company reported a 4.70 million-tonne resource grading 0.94% copper, 1.00% zinc, 0.15 grams per tonne gold and 5.7 grams per tonne silver, with about 90% in the Indicated category. The deposit is being considered as a potential future ore source for the Mt Chalmers processing hub, but it is not part of the current single-asset development base case.
Losses and Funding Needs Remain Material
The project progress sits alongside a deteriorating financial result. QMines recorded a FY2026 loss after tax of $4.43 million, compared with $2.94 million a year earlier, while operating cash outflow more than doubled to $9.21 million. Exploration expenditure paid rose to $5.60 million, and the company ended June with $14.25 million in cash.
The annual report says QMines’ ability to continue as a going concern and realise its exploration assets depends on obtaining additional funding to complete exploration activities. It identifies cash resources, potential asset sales and the ability to scale back exploration as available measures. The next test is therefore less about whether the portfolio has geological potential than whether the DFS, approvals and ongoing drilling can be carried through without another material funding event.
Bottom Line?
QIC funding has bought QMines time to advance Mt Chalmers, but the DFS must convert promising drilling and a pre-feasibility case into a financeable development before the cash balance becomes the dominant story.
Questions in the middle?
- What economics will the completed Mt Chalmers DFS produce under the smaller phased development model?
- How much additional capital will QMines need before construction or production funding can be secured?
- Will the new drilling convert into additional resources or reserves that materially change the mine plan?